Question: Which are the things you must respect (do) as a girl and as a boy when you social dance with a new person?

“Melissa- As a social dance follow, I’m always alert to try to give him a complimentary connection in my follow. He’s probably use to dancing one way and sometimes he wants show me his moves, so he’s going to give me all he’s got. GOOD! I LOVE IT! BRING IT ON PAPARRIN! I want to connect with him to try & try to make sure he’s going to have a fun time dancing with me.

Yes, I want my lead to respect the space and not throw me around or into other people. Catalin & Alina, you’d be surprised how many people just don’t care about spacing. Sometimes I feel like we’re in a Batman Movie. POW! BANG! YIKES! SORRY! HA HA HA But sometimes its just that they don’t know about spacing. No one has ever taught them. They just tried to duplicate combinations from youtube & they probably never stepped into a real salsa class with an instructor who goes over ’spacing’.

Luis: I think its cool when the girl lets loose and becomes a little wild and outgoing. I LOVE IT! But like Melissa said, connection is whats going to keep me coming back to you to ask you to dance. I like a girl who knows how to have fun on the dance floor. THIS IS WHAT SALSA IS ALL ABOUT!

For me, it doesn’t matter if she’s a beginner or an advance dancer. If she can keep her basic, I’ll lead her into the moves. If she’s advance, I’d love to see her get creative with her feet but still know how to carry her weight and what I mean by this is not to put her weight on my hands. Some girls weigh 50 kilos but they feel so heavy when they spin or follow so I’ll only spin them once. I’ve danced with girls that weigh a lot more and they are so light becaue they know how to carry their weight.

Luis & Meli: NO MATTER WHAT, have fun & be safe on the dance floor. Don’t forget you’re dancing with dance partner, so connect with them! Ladies: Don’t be looking at another man while dancing with your dance partner…OK! OK! Only if he’s drop dead gorgeous, then you have my permission & you could even blame it on me!!! HA HA HA”